"No." This word was simply spoken, as if it was the easiest thing in the world to say for this situation. It was just a coincidence that following that single-syllable word, there was an array of linguistic action as a flurry of magical incantations was released. With a blazing blue tip, followed by a swishing dip of her wand, Tonk's released the magical buildup that was flooding into her spell, extracting it upon the man before her.
It was remarkable to watch from Dumbeldore's view, a thousand small razor-blades spinning around you like a tornado; the colors were remarkable and the glint off each blade deadly. They circled him in a whirlwind, and with a spiral descent snapped into his body. Tonks watched horrified, she had expected him to pull another great spell out of his prehistoric ass and block her spell, but he hadn't. She stood terrified as the blades split into him, and his body erupted in red as he was ripped to shreds.
It was slow motion to her, she had just killed Albus "I'm old enough to be the inventor of air" Dumbeldore! She nearly toppled over, but was instead blown backwards as the chunks of Dumbeldore's body suddenly exploded in smoke. As she opened her eyes when the wind pressure of the blast settled, she saw the shattered and splintered pieces of a chair scattered around the room.
With a whip of her wand she rolled completely over, only to find Dumbeldore standing overtop of her, cleaning his fingernails with his wand which sported a deadly looking blade from it's tip. "How can you say that, Nymphadora? This is an order, as a member of the Order of the Phoenix, you are obligated to follow through with this mission. Oh, and next time don't bother dipping your wand, the Vortex Blade Spell doesn't require it and it only serves to tell me what spell your using."
Her eyes nearly bugged out of her skull as she looked at him, with a furious scream she stood up and walked across the room to her bag and through her wand into it. She began muttering angrily, the worlds low but filled with spite, "Old codger… do whatever… stick him in the face…"
Dumbeldore didn't let up however despite all of this, "Well, Nymphadora? When shall I tell him to expect you?"
She turned with a flurry, her hair exploding out from a dark blue, to a fiery red that seemed to mane around her head as her eyes slitted into red specks. "You can tell him to expect absolutely nothing! I'll kill Death Eaters, I'll watch his house, and I'll run your errands, but I refuse to throw away my life for that nitwit little child!"
Flabbergasted, that was only way for Dumbeldore to describe why he couldn't talk all of a sudden. But with time, all things are solved, and after just a few seconds he recovered enough for vocal action. "Nitwit child? Nymphadora, how can you speak of him in such a way? You above any other should know the pain Harry is going through right now."
Another few seconds, and Tonks was sure she was going to explode steam from her ears. She literally shook with the tempest of hate and fury that was building inside of her, and like a tea kettle she was about to explode. Dumbeldore watched though, cautiously running his legellimen's tentacles across the surface of her mind, trying to scrap up any surface thoughts she was exuding. Her mind however was well guarded, Auror training was not for the weak.
Unable to find the answers he seeked from her mind, he contented himself with giving her a benign smile as he watched her. This silence was not helping the situation from Tonk's point of view, if he had kept talking she could of focused on his words, instead he let silence force her to think about her own thoughts. Stomping her heal into the ground she turned from him and walked to the door, he didn't make any motion to stop her or speak to him.
As her hand settled over the handle to the door, her body stopped, she couldn't move. Her heart beat steady once more, and then slower… and with a rush she felt a stabbing pain in her chest. It was with that pain, that tears swelled to her eyes. She looked over her shoulder at Dumbeldore, who at that moment was rushing towards her with a look of concern.
Her head shook slowly, the tears falling in spattered drops on the floor. Her voice was weak, having lost the rage and excitement of battle from before, "He killed him, he killed Sirius. That stupid twit… that arrogant glory hogging piece of shite. He led Sirius to his death, he drug him through hell, and when he was so close to redemption, knocked him back down."
Dumbeldore's mouth opened slowly, she knew he was going to say something to defend Harry, she knew he would try and grease the situation. With a twist her wand was in her hand and aimed at Dumbeldore, "Silencio!" His face blinked back in surprise as he found he was silenced so quickly. "Don't you dare… don't you dare defend him. I'll never forgive him, I'll never let him forget what he's done to me and Remus." With that last sobbing confession, and a sharp crack, Tonks apparated away.
Dumbeldore bowed his head slightly, raising his wand feebly as he silently vanished the silencing charm placed on him. He shook his head sorrowfully as he turned back towards the training room and looked over the damage they had done to it. He couldn't believe Tonk's reaction his request, nor her reaction to the death of Sirius.
His voice was soft, he couldn't force anymore harsh syllables for this day, "Severus."
Out of the shadows in the corner of the room, he watched as they seemed to mold backwards in themselves, and the image of Severus Snape was formed. Snape walked slowly towards Dumbeldore and bowed slightly, "Headmaster. You called for me?"
The aged wizard looked at the shadows curiously, he hadn't felt the tingle of magic associated with shadow jumping. "Were you watching us, Severus?"
Snape didn't blink and inch as he stood straight and looked Dumbeldore in the eye. "You have been in a stir for the past week. Since the death of Black, in fact. I wished to find the reason."
Dumbeldore looked to him, "And have you?"
With a sneer Snape turned bodily away from him, "Why do you obsess over him? Just a worthless child who can't keep his own pets alive! At least Tonk's has an open mind away from the publics golden child to see what I've seen this entire time. He'll kill us all with his actions, his brainless mind-decrepit actions! If he had thought but a little bit more he could of seen the Dark Lords trap, he could of kept the mutt Black alive."
It was strange from Snape, he had never experienced it before, that is… he'd never had Dumbeldore laugh in his face before. The old wizard couldn't help it really, he began laughing so loud and so heavily that he was knocked senseless by it. Softly it died down to a chuckle, Snape turning around a furious look crossing his face as he saw the headmaster's eyes twinkling with cynical humor, "Has that been the relationship the entire time? It has been Harry's responsibility to look over Sirius? I was under the impression that it was the other way around!"
Snape's face contorted in embarrassment, the Headmaster had never talked to him like this before, let alone laughed at him. He shook his head slightly, "All because of Potter. That's the only reason your acting like this, your influenced by Potter."
With a smile Dumbeldore walked to the door and opened it. He looked over his shoulder slowly, "He's not as golden as you'd like, I'm afraid." And with that he left the room closing the door behind him.
With another last sneer, Snape made his way into the shadows once more, disappearing in the darkness of his retreat.
Hermione sat silently on her window seat, a book titled, "The Do's and Don'ts of Bio-Magic." She had been reading the book for an hour now and was halfway through the 2 thousand page work, it was quite a task but she was understanding more about the biological factors involved in the expansion and creation of matter in magic. It was quite interesting to her.
With a frustrated sigh she snapped the book shut and looked out the window at the setting sun, "Your beating yourself up, aren't you?"
She knew Harry would be a depressive state, she knew he would withdraw into himself if he was left to his own devices. Setting the book down on the cushions of her seat, she walked across the thick-yarn rug of her floor and settled into her desk where she extracted a piece of parchment and began writing. It was quite unfortunate for Hermione that she focused so much on her writing, she never heard the soft pop just outside her window, nor the ringing of her door bell, nor the answering of her parents, nor even the happy reply of her schools headmaster.
She did however, hear the knocking at her door which drew her up from her letter to see her mother standing there looking at her, "Yes, mum?"
Emma smiled, "You have a visitor, dear. Professor Dumbeldore, your headmaster."
Hermione blinked slightly at that, as if she hadn't heard what her mother just said. And then with a slightly panicked look she jumped out of her chair and raced out of the room. Her mother naturally gave chase, worried something was wrong with her daughter. What she didn't expect to see nor hear, when she turned into the parlor room where he husband and her daughters professor were sitting, was Hermione yelling.
"You barmy old codger! You can't leave him there, you can't trap him up in that hole with those horrid people. He'll go insane, he'll ring himself into a ball so tight he'll be bleeding diamonds by the end of the summer. I swear, if you don't do something about this right now, I'm goin-"
She was hushed silently by her father who recovered from his initial shock of his daughter running into the room and berating a rather nice old man. He moved up beside her and slapped his hand over her mouth, though she was still screaming muffled words, and smiled at Dumbeldore, "My apologies. I don't know what in the world has gotten into her. She's normally so well behaved." He turned to Hermione, his eyes narrowing angrily, "Hermione! What's wrong with you! You don't just run up on people an-"
He, like his daughter, was unexpectingly silenced. However, his silence was not natural, as Dumbeldore illustrated by lowering his wand slowly. "I am sorry Mr. Granger, but I am afraid your daughter has every right in the world to speak to an, what was it? Barmy old codger? In such a way." He smiled as he flicked his wand and they were released from the spell, and he knew it was just a matter of time before she-
"Well! Will you answer me already!" Hermione shouted out at him.
He chuckled again, "That is precisely why I am here, Miss. Granger. I find myself in a predicament. Harry has very few close friends, those that I would normally ask, are out of the country at this moment. The one Order member, aside from Remus Lupin, whom I would trust Harry's care to, has adamantly refused to look after him. I came to see, if perhaps you knew of anyone whom would be able to fill the capacity of taking care of Harry's emotional grief, as well as accompany him in a strict training regimen this summer."
Her face burned bright red as she tried to keep her yells at bay, "Why you! Why didn't you ask me? You know I would go!"
Dan Granger looked over sharply, "Not unsupervised your not!"
Hermione turned to him, settling her hands on her hips, "I will to! He needs me! You don't know what Harry's like when he's left to himself, he'll let his guilt eat him alive. He'll try and push us all away again. Or maybe worse."
Dumbeldore smiled sadly as he looked down, "I am afraid, she is correct. Harry has, already turned into himself. I am afraid, there are very few people who are equipped to handle Harry in the way he will require. And knowing Harry, he will refuse to professional aid."
Emma walked into the parlor finally, standing beside her husband, "You surely aren't asking us to condone our daughter going, and spending the summer with a boy neither of us have formally met?"
He smiled crookedly for a moment and looked up with a twinkle in his eyes, "I'm afraid I am. Not just that, but without any sort of stable guardian that would care about their food, emotional care, or even physical care."
Hermione nodded, "I'll go pack right now." She rushed upstairs but was caught in her fathers strong grip.
Dan looked menacingly, "You run off one more time, and I'll lock your books away for a month." That seemed to deflate her enough to sit down. Having controlled one problem he turns to Dumbeldore, "I won't allow it. If you want the boy taken care of, put him with some stable guardians. My wife and I would even let him stay here, if need be. Or take him to this Headquarters, my daughter tells us about. Surly there are people there who can look after him. Whatever the course, my daughter will not be going there without supervision, and certainly not while those guardians of his are in place." He crossed his arms, his foot was planted.
Dumbeldore looked at Hermione and nodded slightly as he stood up and faced the firm father, "Harry, cannot be removed from his current place of residence. Not only that, his guardians must stay in place. Ancient blood wards are in place here… it is the safest place in the world for him. Dr. Granger… it is as well the safest place in the world for your daughter." Hermione bowed her head, she knew what was coming.
Emma grabbed her husbands shoulder and looked at the old wizard, "What do you mean?"
Dumbeldore's eyes lost their twinkle as he seemed to gain a seriousness that surpassed what any of them had ever seen, "Your daughter, shortly before school was released, went a rather dangerous mission with Harry. They, along with four other students, broke into a highly classified section of the Ministry of Magic, and fell into a trap set by Tom Riddle, also known as Lord Voldemort. They fought off his Tom's Death Eaters, this is where Hermione truly acquired the wound upon her body. She is on a list, a short list of people whom are to be slain in the name of a madman's quest for power. Her name I am afraid, might lay right below Harry's."
As he spoke both Dan and Emma's faces contorted from shock, to horror, and settled on unbridled rage. As one it seemed the both screamed, "And where were you when all of this was happening!"
To say he was surprised, was a large understatement. He expected them to immediately fear the safety of their child, his manipulation seemed to have turned around on him. "I'm afraid I was on the run from the Ministry of Magic, as I was unjustly suspect for many crimes that I have been cleared of, and duly redeemed. I arrived minutes into the fight along with a force of men and women who are dedicated to the fighting of Tom's forces. Surely, you can see the danger I speak of. Years ago, even muggles such as yourselves would of known the name Voldemort, of strange sights in the skies. Your child's safety, as well as the safety of Harry are two very important things."
Emma frowned and bit her lip, Dan seemed to be steaming with even more anger. He looked over his shoulder and his eyes pierced Hermione's, she looked down in guilt at having not told her parents the truth. She had lied about the wound, saying it was a backlash from a spell she performed wrong. He frowned tighter, and with a sigh he looked back to Dumbeldore, "When does she leave?"
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